Perdido Street Station

Armada

Cactacae Facial Study

The colored version of my first Cactacae picture, which prompted a small
series of sketches of China Mieville's cactus people.

Cray Huntsman

Cray are a race from The Scar (book by China Mieville) half human and half rock lobster, they tatoo their hindquarters with all sorts of wierd designs and have gills on their necks. the idea was so cool i had to give it a try. This drifting Cray Huntsman is from the opening scene of the book, complete with spear and hooded hunting squid! With my return to Elfwood, i may attempt another few Cray sketches...who knows?

Jack Half-a-Prayer

I've wanted to illustrate Jack since reading the enigmatic introduction he got in 'Perdido Street Station'. Jack's something of an urban legend and a freedom fighter in New Crobuzon...and he's got an enormous mantis claw :)

She-Anophelius

Somaturgy

Judah Low is one of the most fascinating characters from China Mieville's new book, 'Iron Council'. He's a Somaturge: a wizard/scientist in the art of golem creation. The early chapters of the book have him riding an enormous clay-golem, saddled on it's back. I'm not too pleased with little Judah up there, but the golem came out just as I envisioned it. Expect to see more of Judah Low later.

Toro

Possibly the coolest character from China Mieville's 'Iron Council' is Toro. Another freedom-fighter character like Jack, Toro's steam-powered bull headpiece is one of those images that stays with you. If you read IC you'll understand some of Toro's size and shape...any more'd spoil the book. I definitely want to do more with Toro in the future.

Vodyanoi

Another China Mieville inspired piece. This is a sketch of his amphibious race called Vodyanoi. This was just to get the concept of the race down visually. The challenge was getting the right mix of frog and man. Some of my sketches just looked like anthropomorphic toads and some just looked like buggy-eyed fat guys. This comes closest to how I envisioned the Vodyanoi...again, I hope to do more with the race later.

*New* Cray Huntsman

This will kick off the latest series of Mieville inspired work that I'm
uploading. China Mieville is truly a genius...half-lobster. half-man...the
cray were always the most fascinating race from The Scar for me. The old pic
of the Cray simply wasn't good enough at all: A race so cool deserves a
better illustration. It's the same character from that amazing intro in 'The
Scar'

At the edges of the shelves of rock where cold, light water gives way
to a creeping darkness, a he-cray scrambles. He sees prey, clicks and
rattles deep in his throat, while he slips the hood from his hunting squid
and releases it. It bolts from him, diving for the shoal of fat mackerel
that boil and reform like a cloud twenty feet above. Its foot-long tentacles
open and whip closed again. The squid returns to its master, dragging a
dying fish, and the school reknits behind it.

-China
Mieville, 'The Scar'

Cray Huntsman -Colored-

Colored in Photoshop. When reworking this character and coloring the picture for my exhibit, I tried to capture something of the mood of this first scene from Mieville's 'The Scar'. This exerpt should give you an idea of what I'm talking about: The cray raises his arm and calls his squid closer to him, soothes it gently. He fingers his harpoon. He is standing on a granite ridge, where seaweed and ferns move against him, caressing his long underbelly. To his right, swells of porous stone rise above him. To the left the slope falls away fast into disphotic water. He can feel the chill emanating from below. He looks out into a steep gradation of blue. Way overhead, on the surface, there are ripples of light. Below him the rays peter swiftly out. He stands only a little way above the border of perpetual dark. - China Mieville, 'The Scar'